Columbo

I'm sure they could still arrange giving them 0.5% of the HST as 'photo ops and big cheques' if they wanted. After all, it would still be coming from the government. It would certainly elevate my opinion of them, anyway. And it's not like these constant stories of Translink upgrades being canceled, Translink running out of money, etc. are doing the government much good!

So WTF is wrong with this plan? This is more than just an issue of having more buses. It's about affordability (legitimately giving people the choice to not own a car) sustainability, the environment... after the huge ticket items like healthcare and education, these are some of the top issues in our country. Is half a percent of the government's tax revenue so much to ask when the benefits are so huge?

BTW I rode the Canada line from King Edward for the first time today and I almost laughed when I saw the station. This is what it looks like, not during construction, but RIGHT NOW: What a beauty. This is how we do things in the lower mainland.

This still sounds like thinking of the present while screwing over the future. It would be fine if these projects were FOR the future, but it so happens that they're already needed in the present, so we're already behind. Somehow, they need to get the money to do everything they need to do - we need our transit modernized. I don't know how though. Translink needs a miracle.

It's fine for them to distance themselves from Translink but how is Translink supposed to get any funding? You can't legitimately expect a public transport company to be profitable solely based on ridership revenue. It's so odd, how come the rest of the world can figure out how to fund their transit systems but we can't? I was in ROMANIA this summer, basically a 2nd world country with a fraction of the GDP of Canada, but the metro system in the capital was much longer and more extensive than ours, much more well-built, AND they were currently working on 2 new lines while I was there! If they can find the money, we MUST be able to. There is something seriously wrong with our way of thinking and of doing things.

I don't know if you posted this in response to my post, but I for one am with you. Hell I'd pay more for my UPass THIS year if it went towards skytrain on Broadway, even knowing full well that any line to UBC will be built LONG after I graduate.

Extending it to Arbutus only would just be another repeat of what happened with the Millenium line. One day, they'll want to extend it all the way to UBC, and it'll cost another 5 billion dollars than it would have when they first built it to Arbutus. They really, REALLY need to start planning for the future for once. We're already so far behind. On a side note, I'd gladly take an increase to my UPass fee if the money went towards building and maintaining this line.

I guess it's a moot point anyway, seeing how our society's ways of thinking is completely backwards and we probably won't see any new transit infrastructure for years. OH WELL.

I was checking out the "Skytrain to UBC" facebook group and someone made an interesting point... is it possible that building a line to UBC isn't that enticing for translink because of the UPass? Since all UBC students get one anyway, even if a line on Broadway saw 100,000 ppl/day, most of them would not be contributing to the income at all. Even people who switch from driving to transit won't contribute anything extra, they'll just be putting their UPass to use for the first time.

Yeah in the free rag 24 hour. I was TALKING about the 24 hour, buddy. I think you're the one who needs to learn to read.

How can distance-based fare cards solve both higher fares AND Translink debts? It just can't work both ways. I'm all for distance-based charging, but it's either going to be 1) revenue neutral, 2) less revenue for translink, or 3) higher average fairs for users. No way it can solve ALL the financial problems. Fare gates may get a few more people to pay, but will also cost millions to install. It'll be years till they start being profitable. The only way to solve all the problems is higher taxes or a bigger deficit, both of which will probably lead to the assassination of Gordon Campbell given today's political climate.

Their articles could at least be based on facts, you know. And maybe attempt to give both sides of the story at least once or twice a month. And not bring up the Liberals in every single article, whether or not it has anything to do with them. And not publish opinion articles written at an 9th grade level on page 2 of the local news section. There's reporting the news, then there's brainwashing people. Based on your post, I'd say you read too much of that 'newspaper'.

It's always been a very bad newspaper but lately it's just been brutal. I mean look at this story that they ran on PAGE 3 last week, not in the opinions section but in the NEWS: (Warning, it will make your heart bleed.) http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/BC-Politic...8/DayInTheLife/ It's not even completely factual! And the week before they had a story something along the lines of "Gordon Campbell is the devil" followed 2 days later by basically a re-print of the same story. Again not in the opinions section, but in the local news section. It's a bit of a joke.

Also WTF is with the 24 Hours? Have the NDP commissioned them as their official propaganda paper or something? Can't those guys write a single article without ending it with the same old tired Liberal bashing? I swear, their logo is orange for more reasons than one.

I mean going forward. If they really carry out on their threats. Which at first sounded like idle threats, but seem to be becoming closer and closer to reality.

Transit users are not going to be happy about this news coinciding with the 'upgrade cancellations' news. It's like a double whammy. Basically saying "we're going to charge you more to use the system, but we're also going to downgrade it." Ugh.

I knew it, my line to UBC will never be built. It seems like Translink isn't even asking for THAT much... I mean $130million seems tiny compared to the 2.5billion debt, and public transit seems like a very important thing to be funding in this day and age (with the whole climate change issue and all). This is very frustrating...

http://www.bclocalnews.com/news/56748447.html

The cost of building the line is like pulling a piece of gum out of your hair. You know it's going to hurt, but the longer you leave it in the messier things will get.

This is a good point, building a line down Broadway would be basically equivalent to ordering like 100 new buses for free. They should take that into account when thinking about cost, although I guess it's still only a very small fraction.

You know, people have to walk to the bus stop too...

I was just thinking.... all the Cambie merchants who are suing Translink for the business they lost while the Canada line was being built should in turn have to give Translink the extra profit they make now that they live in close proximity to some very high-traffic public transport hubs. I mean it's only fair right?

I like how we saved 10s of millions today (with the low capacity we built for) at the cost of hundreds of millions a few years down the road (to increase capacity). Oh, instant gratification...

Plus it's unnecessary security... if someone's going to steal a credit card to buy a $2.50 skytrain ticket, then WHATEVER. The bad outweighs the good in the case of these machines.

I've said it before, but thank goodness I'll be long graduated by then! I don't think the person who wrote that article has ever tried taking a bus to UBC at 9am on a weekday morning.